ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - Fire officials say a man, who appeared to be in his 50s died in a house fire on the 5000 block of Lotus Avenue in north St. Louis Friday.

Percy Futch, who lives across the street from the house, says he saw smoke coming from the house and tried to help when he heard people screaming that somebody was inside.

"I opened the door and as soon as I opened the door everything was just overwhelming with smoke and plus there was debris everywhere so we didn't really have a chance, you know," said Futch. "I would have died even if I would have did my natural instincts just going up in there anyway."

The fire chief says the victim was in a second floor bathroom and appeared to have died from smoke inhalation.

Firefighters got him out of the house and tried to revive him, but they were not successful.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but authorities don't suspect it was intentionally set.